G proteins, short for guanine nucleotide-binding proteins, are a family of proteins involved in second messenger cascades.
G proteins were discovered when Alfred G. Gilman and Martin Rodbell tried to figure out how adrenaline stimulated cells. They found that when a hormone like adrenaline bound to a receptor, the receptor did not stimulate enzymes like adenylate cyclase directly. Instead, the receptor stimulated a G protein, which then stimulated the adenylate cyclase to produce a second messenger, cyclic AMP.[1] For this discovery they won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[2]
G proteins belong to the larger group of enzymes called GTPases.
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G proteins are important signal transducing molecules in cells. In fact, diseases such as diabetes, blindness, allergies, depression, cardiovascular defects and certain forms of cancer, among other pathologies, are thought to arise due to derangement of G protein signaling.
The human genomes encodes roughly 350 G protein-coupled receptors, which detect hormones, growth factors and other endogenous ligands. Approximately 150 of the GPCRs found in the human genome have unknown functions.
G protein can refer to two distinct families of proteins. Heterotrimeric G proteins, sometimes referred to as the "large" G proteins that are activated by G protein-coupled receptors and made up of alpha (α), beta (β), and gamma (γ) subunits. There are also "small" G proteins (20-25kDa) that belong to the Ras superfamily of small GTPases. These proteins are homologous to the alpha (α) subunit found in heterotrimers, and are in fact monomeric. However, they also bind GTP and GDP and are involved in signal transduction.
Heterotrimeric G proteins share a common mode of action, i.e., activation in response to a conformation change in the G-protein-coupled receptor, exchange of GTP for GDP and dissociation in order to activate further proteins in the signal transduction pathway. However, the specific mechanism differs between different types of G proteins.
Receptor-activated G proteins are bound to the inside surface of the cell membrane. They consist of the Gα and the tightly associated Gβγ subunits. At the present time, four main families exist for Gα subunits: Gαs, Gαi, Gαq/11, and Gα12/13. These groups differ primarily in effector recognition, but share a similar mechanism of activation.
When a ligand activates the G protein-coupled receptor, it induces a conformation change in the receptor (a change in shape) that allows the receptor to function as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) that exchanges GTP in place of GDP on the Gα subunit. In the traditional view of heterotrimeric protein activation, this exchange triggers the dissociation of the Gα subunit, bound to GTP, from the Gβγ dimer and the receptor. However, models that suggest molecular rearrangement, reorganization, and pre-complexing of effector molecules are beginning to be accepted. Both Gα-GTP and Gβγ can then activate different signaling cascades (or second messenger pathways) and effector proteins, while the receptor is able to activate the next G protein.
The Gα subunit will eventually hydrolyze the attached GTP to GDP by its inherent enzymatic activity, allowing it to re-associate with Gβγ and starting a new cycle. There do exist groups of proteins called RBMs that act as GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs), which are specific for Gα subunits, which act to accelerate hydrolysis and terminate the transduced signal. In some cases the effector itself may possess intrinsic GAP activity, which helps deactivate the pathway. This is true in the case of phospholipase C beta, which possesses GAP activity within its C-terminal region. This is an alternate form of regulation for the Gα subunit.
Small GTPases also bind GTP and GDP and are involved in signal transduction. These proteins are homologous to the alpha (α) subunit found in heterotrimers, but exist as monomers. They are small (20-kDa to 25-kDa) proteins that bind to guanosine triphosphate (GTP). This family of proteins is homologous to Ras GTPases and is also called the Ras superfamily GTPases.
In order to associate with the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane, many G proteins are covalently modified with lipid extensions, i.e., they are lipidated.
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